There have been many people and events in my life that have had a large impact on me. Despite all of these influences my summer job has had the biggest impact on me by far. My job taught me a lot more than any classroom education could.
Many people in Rhode Island do not know much about western Massachusetts. This is not very surprising because there is not a lot in western Mass for people to know. Where I come from is a very agricultural area, there are a lot of farms, fields and open space. Southwick and surrounding towns in the area are known for their tobacco crops. I worked on two different kinds of tobacco farms in my life, the second being broad leaf tobacco which is used to make cigar wrappers. We harvest it in August, hang it to dry and cure throughout the fall and it is shipped to the Dominican Republic every winter. It is then shipped back to the US as cigars.
I have always had a moral dilemma with this job because of the negative affects of tobacco, but it was good pay so I continued to return. This year I was taught to drive a tractor, which was a type of promotion. The trailer would be filled with tobacco plants and I would shift into gear and pull out onto the road. It was stressful driving a tractor on the road because its maximum speed was about 18 miles per hour. I would often have a line of cars behind me beeping because I was causing a traffic jam. There was also always the fear of stalling, which luckily only happened once. It was not easy work; we started early in the morning and ended late in the afternoon. The sun was hot, the work was dirty and tiring and sometimes we would surpass 40 hours a week. This job taught me much more than the definition of hard work, it opened my eyes to a whole new perspective of people who were nothing like me.
The tobacco farms in my area would bring migrant workers from Puerto Rico and Jamaica up every summer. These men were not given the same opportunities as Americans as children. They did not get a good education, or an opportunity to go to college. They would spend their entire summers in migrant housing, away from their families. Many of them were in their late 40s and early 50s and they were just trying to make enough to support their families. This job that was gas money to me was their entire livelihood and that really had a strong effect on me. The migrant workers were always very kind and would do anything for anyone. They were also the most hardworking people I have ever met.
One person that I will definitely remember for the rest of my life is Barnes. Many people referred to Barnes as Giant because he was well over six feet tall. I never learned his real name but now I regret not asking. Barnes was Jamaican; he had lived in Jamaica his entire life and came to work on the tobacco farm every summer. He told me once that he had been working on tobacco farms for 27 years which was shocking to me. I had never realized how dependent some people were on this job. Barnes was a hard worker. He was a hanger in the barn, this meant he spent the entire day lifting the heavy lats full of tobacco plants up to the kids who would hang them in the rafters of the barn. The rest of the kids in the barn were between 18 and 25 years old. Barnes was in his late 40s. He knew what work had to be done and would not stop until everything was finished and never heard him complain once. It was also easy to see how much knowledge he had. He knew everything about how the farm worked and everything he would say was a word of advice, even though much of it was hard to understand through his thick accent. He was always upbeat and singing and full of energy. Honestly he amazed me.
Working with Barnes and the other migrant workers on the farm really opened my eyes to several things. It made me appreciate the opportunities I have been given in my life. I always thought of public education as a right but actually it is a privilege, one that many people from other countries do not get. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity I have to attend college and I will always carry the hard work ethic I learned at the farm with me for the rest of my life. Barnes and the other migrant workers could have been very successful if they were given the opportunity, but because of they’re circumstances they are making a living off of hard physical labor every summer. My summers on the tobacco farm have really changed my work ethic and perspective on life.
Out of school influences
There have been many people and events in my life that have had a large impact on me. Despite all of these influences my summer job has had the biggest impact on me by far. My job taught me a lot more than any classroom education could.
Many people in Rhode Island do not know much about western Massachusetts. This is not very surprising because there is not a lot in western Mass for people to know. Where I come from is a very agricultural area, there are a lot of farms, fields and open space. Southwick and surrounding towns in the area are known for their tobacco crops. I worked on two different kinds of tobacco farms in my life, the second being broad leaf tobacco which is used to make cigar wrappers. We harvest it in August, hang it to dry and cure throughout the fall and it is shipped to the Dominican Republic every winter. It is then shipped back to the US as cigars.
I have always had a moral dilemma with this job because of the negative affects of tobacco, but it was good pay so I continued to return. This year I was taught to drive a tractor, which was a type of promotion. The trailer would be filled with tobacco plants and I would shift into gear and pull out onto the road. It was stressful driving a tractor on the road because its maximum speed was about 18 miles per hour. I would often have a line of cars behind me beeping because I was causing a traffic jam. There was also always the fear of stalling, which luckily only happened once. It was not easy work; we started early in the morning and ended late in the afternoon. The sun was hot, the work was dirty and tiring and sometimes we would surpass 40 hours a week. This job taught me much more than the definition of hard work, it opened my eyes to a whole new perspective of people who were nothing like me.
The tobacco farms in my area would bring migrant workers from Puerto Rico and Jamaica up every summer. These men were not given the same opportunities as Americans as children. They did not get a good education, or an opportunity to go to college. They would spend their entire summers in migrant housing, away from their families. Many of them were in their late 40s and early 50s and they were just trying to make enough to support their families. This job that was gas money to me was their entire livelihood and that really had a strong effect on me. The migrant workers were always very kind and would do anything for anyone. They were also the most hardworking people I have ever met.
One person that I will definitely remember for the rest of my life is Barnes. Many people referred to Barnes as Giant because he was well over six feet tall. I never learned his real name but now I regret not asking. Barnes was Jamaican; he had lived in Jamaica his entire life and came to work on the tobacco farm every summer. He told me once that he had been working on tobacco farms for 27 years which was shocking to me. I had never realized how dependent some people were on this job. Barnes was a hard worker. He was a hanger in the barn, this meant he spent the entire day lifting the heavy lats full of tobacco plants up to the kids who would hang them in the rafters of the barn. The rest of the kids in the barn were between 18 and 25 years old. Barnes was in his late 40s. He knew what work had to be done and would not stop until everything was finished and never heard him complain once. It was also easy to see how much knowledge he had. He knew everything about how the farm worked and everything he would say was a word of advice, even though much of it was hard to understand through his thick accent. He was always upbeat and singing and full of energy. Honestly he amazed me.
Working with Barnes and the other migrant workers on the farm really opened my eyes to several things. It made me appreciate the opportunities I have been given in my life. I always thought of public education as a right but actually it is a privilege, one that many people from other countries do not get. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity I have to attend college and I will always carry the hard work ethic I learned at the farm with me for the rest of my life. Barnes and the other migrant workers could have been very successful if they were given the opportunity, but because of they’re circumstances they are making a living off of hard physical labor every summer. My summers on the tobacco farm have really changed my work ethic and perspective on life.